Expandible loom apron

ABSTRACT

An expandible loom apron for a cloth roll has a plurality of vertically spaced pleats formed by fastening a plurality of vertical horizontally spaced elastic strips in stretched condition to an elongated thin sheet of plastic film, and means fastening the sheet of plastic film along upper and lower edges thereof in position above and below a cloth roll so that as the cloth roll expands as it is filled with cloth during weaving the apron also expands to protect the cloth wound thereon.

United States Patent Saul EXPANDIBLE LOOM APRON [72] Inventor: Coy L. Saul, 211 Layton Ave., Danville, Va. 24541 22 Filed: July 27,1971

21 Appl.No.: 166,524

[52] U.S. Cl. ..139/l C, 66/149 R, 242/55, 242/67.l [51] Int. Cl. ..D03j 1/00 [58] Field of Search ..66/149 R; 139/1 R, l C, 291, 139/304, 315; 242/1, 55, 67.1

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 765,237 7/1904 Goldsmith ..l39/291 2,267,483 12/1941 Turner ..l39/291 1 Sept. 19,1972

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIQNS 199,544 6/1923 Great Britain ..l39/l C Primary Examiner-Henry S. .laudon Attorney-Ralph Bailey et a1.

[5 7] ABSTRACT An expandible loom apron for a cloth roll has a plurality of vertically spaced pleats formed by fastening a plurality of vertical horizontally spaced elastic strips in stretched condition to an elongated thin sheet of plastic film, and means fastening the sheet of plastic film along upper and lower edges thereof in position above and below a cloth roll so that as the cloth roll expands as it is filled with cloth during weaving the apron also expands to protect the cloth wound thereon.

2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEP 19 I912 INVENTOR. CoY L.. SAUL A TTORNE Y5 EXPANDIBLE LOOM APRON This invention relates to an improved loom apron constructed of plastic film having pleats therein so that the apron may expand to cover the cloth as it is wound on the cloth roll of a loom.

The cloth, as it is woven on high production looms, is wound on a cloth roll, and in practice such often becomes contaminated with lint and other foreign matter including, even lubricants used on the machinery. Loom aprons of a type have been suspended in front of the cloth roll, but such has not been effective because they did not do an adequate job of covering the cloth as it is made. The expandible roll of the present invention fits snugly over the cloth roll as the cloth roll builds during weaving to snugly engage same, ofiering effective protection for the cloth wound thereon.

Accordingly, it is an important object of the present invention to provide an expandible apron for snugly engaging the cloth roll as it builds during weaving.

Another important object of the invention is to provide an expandible apron of any inexpensive plastic film through which the cloth may be observed as it is made.

Still another important object of the invention is to provide a loom apron constructed in large part from plastic film which has pleats therein for expanding so as to snugly engage the cloth roll during weaving.

The construction designed to carry .out the invention will be hereinafter described, together with other features thereof.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of the following specification and by reference to the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof, wherein an example of the invention is shown and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an expandible loom apron constructed in accordance with the present invention installed thereon over the cloth roll, and

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation taken on line 2-2 in FIG. 1.

The drawing illustrates an expandible loom apron for a cloth roll constructed from an elongated thin sheet of plastic film A. A plurality of vertical spaced elastic strips B are fastened in stretched condition along their length to the sheet of plastic film producing a plurality of pleats. Means C, which may be in the form of snap fasteners, are provided for fastening the sheet of plastic film along upper and lower edges thereof in position above and below the cloth roll with an intermediate portion of the sheet of plastic film engaging the cloth roll during weaving. Thus, as the cloth roll expands to cover the cloth as it fills the roll the apron also expands to cover same protecting the cloth wound on the cloth roll. Horizontal non-elastic strips D are fixed along upper and lower edges carrying the aforementioned fastening means.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1, a Draper Shuttleless Loom (DSL) is broadly designated at 10. The loom has a pair of spaced loom sides 11 and 12 which support the usual harnesses 13 and associated mechanism therebetween. In the front delivery side of the loom the sides are bridged at the top by a breast beam 14 and at the bottom by a front girt 15 (FIG. 2). The cloth roll 16 is journalledlat each end in a vertical woven, passes over a take-up roll 20 and over a series of guide rolls 21 to the cloth roll 16. The cloth roll 16 is illustrated in expanded position in broken lines in FIG. 2.

The expandible loom apron includes an elongated thin sheet of plastic film A. Roller polished clear vinyl plastic interleaved film of from 0.006 to about 0.012 gauge has been found to be satisfactory, although any similar plastic film would be suitable. It will be noted that the sheet of plastic film is rectangular and elongated to cover substantially the entire front portion of the loom, as illustrated. A plurality of vertical horizontally spaced elastic strips B are fastened in stretched condition along the length to the sheet of plastic film producing a plurality of pleats. The vertical strips may be fastened as by sewing or by suitable gluing (not shown).

The means D fastening the sheet of plastic film along upper and lower edges thereof in position above and below the cloth roll, respectively, are illustrated in the form of snap fasteners C. The snap fastener includes a female portion 22 suitably secured as by screws 23 to the breast beam 14 at the top and the front girt 15 at the bottom. A male snap portion 23 is secured through horizontal non-elastic strips fixed! along upper and lower edges of the film. The non-elastic strips D are fixed along the upper and lower edges as by sewing or by gluing (not shown).

It will be observed that the loom apron is held by virtue of the elastic strips B snugly against the cloth roll when in expanded position, as illustrated in FIG. 2, and will at all times be in sufficiently close relation to the cloth roll as to protect same during weaving. As previously pointed out, it is preferred that the plastic film be constructed of clear plastic so that at all times an imperforate sheet will be available to afford adequate protection to the cloth being wound on the roll.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described using specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An expandible loom apron and the like for a cloth roll comprising: an elongated thin sheet of plastic film; a plurality of vertical horizontally spaced elastic strips fastened in stretched condition along their length to said sheet of plastic film producing a plurality of pleats; and means fastening said sheet of plastic film along upper and lower edges thereof in position above and below the cloth roll with an intermediate portion of said sheet of plastic film engaging said cloth roll; whereby as said cloth roll expands as it is filled with cloth the apron also expands to cover same protecting the cloth wound thereon.

2. The loom apron set forth in claim 1 including, horizontal non-elastic strips fixed along said upper and lower edges carrying said means fastening said sheet of plastic film. 

1. An expandible loom apron and the like for a cloth roll comprising: an elongated thin sheet of plastic film; a plurality of vertical horizontally spaced elastic strips fastened in stretched condition along their length to said sheet of plastic film producing a plurality of pleats; and means fastening said sheet of plastic film along upper and lower edges thereof in position above and below the cloth roll with an intermediate portion of said sheet of plastic film engaging said cloth roll; whereby as said cloth roll expands as it is filled with cloth the apron also expands to cover same protecting the cloth wound thereon.
 2. The loom apron set forth in claim 1 including, horizontal non-elastic strips fixed along said upper and lower edges carrying said means fastening said sheet of plastic film. 